Chevrolet Chevelle Super Sport 396 - SS-kalation
Summary
It began as a petite, sporty mid-size car with slightly increased performance and ended as a war-painted, full-bodied seven-liter monster with more power than any rear tire could handle. This article traces the development of the Chevrolet Chevelle SS and shows a picture of a 1966 model.
This article contains the following chapters
- The porcupine
- A model of its own
- The summit
- A quick end
Estimated reading time: 6min
Preview (beginning of the article)
It was not the Chrysler Corporation that built the Pontiac GTO's biggest competitor, even if the pop-cultural omnipresence of the Dodge Charger and Plymouth Roadrunner sometimes makes it seem that way today. Ford and AMC were also only able to lag behind in the registration statistics with the Fairlane and Javelin. No, the worst opponent of the midsize motorhome with the full-size engine and the Italian name suffix came from within the company, from the entry-level brand Chevrolet of all places. As the Impala, Bel Air and Biscayne had once again increased in length, width and wheelbase with the 1961 model year, there was a large gap in the market between them and the Nova presented in 1962, into which all potential customers who found the full-fat road cruisers too big and the ascetic compact too small plumped. So in Flint, Michigan, they dug out the old A-platform, which had last been used for the 1957 Chevrolet. What had been "full-size" seven years earlier was now only considered "mid-size" and, with a wheelbase of 115 inches (2921 mm), was fairly midway between the 119 inches of the full-size models and the 110 inches of the compacts.
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